The Leader’s breaking news story on Tuesday about St George Illawarra forward Trent Merrin rejecting the club’s lucrative contract has Dragons fans breathing fire.
Merrin and his manager Wayne Beavis formally rejected a three-year, $1.8 million offer made by the NRL club.
Beavis told the Leader that the contract offer was ‘‘too low’’ and ‘‘unacceptable.’’
Merrin, who has played 112 games for the Dragons, is off contract at the end of 2015.
Rival clubs are now circling, with the Sydney Roosters keen to entice the NSW prop/second rower to the club in 2016 and beyond.
The Dragons made what they described as the ‘‘richest ever offer to a forward in their playing ranks’’.
Beavis, however, said the contract offer was disappointing.
‘‘The offer they made is not in the spirit of negotiations,’’ Beavis said.
The Merrin story has gone wild on social media and websites, with many Dragons fans airing their views.
Some fans believe the offer is a good one and others believe he is worth more to stay in the red and white.
The Fairfax-owned radio station, 2UE, picked up on the Merrin story, like many other media outlets and rugby league websites.
Leader sports editor Paul Haigh was interviewed on 2UE’s popular program, Sports Today, on Tuesday night.
